Fishbowl

Fishbowl

The aim is for students to gain insight into others’ perspectives on the challenge.

1.  The students create 2 groups A and B.   A is the inner group and B is the outer group.
2. The teacher gives the following question to Group A to discuss:

• To what extend did the challenge solution meet the needs of the client’s brief?

3. Group B observes the discussion and takes notes.  Group B cannot interrupt or participate in the discussion. However, they should be encouraged to reflect on their own performance in the task during their listening role.
4. The groups change places and Group B continues the discussion, with Group A observing and taking notes.
5. Students then reflect on the activity and on the differing perspectives that they have observed.
6. Students write points on the whiteboard for class discussion and try to reach a consensus to progress the challenge.

The inner group will allow for more points of view to be expressed and then either refuted/reinforced/developed by the second group. By using prompts from the speaking group, members of the listening group will be able to reflect on their own performance in the task.

The activity could be done using online tools such as Padlet, virtual whiteboard and breakout rooms in Teams/Zoom.

Inspired by: The Centre for Teaching and Learning https://teaching.uwo.ca/teaching/learning/active-learning.html